


Salves and Shurikens

by Demonriceball



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-16 16:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7275133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demonriceball/pseuds/Demonriceball
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a father and a master ninja are difficult duties by themselves, and even more difficult when combined. However, Saizo learns that he can learn a lot from his wife Mozu that his ninja skills could never teach, and even from his own three year old son. When faced with a difficult task to escort and overly adventurous prince, Saizo and Mozu learn just how much they rely on each other, and that help comes from the most surprising of places.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Royal Problem

“Ugh…” muttered Saizo as he walked through the door, slumping down at the table.  
“Daddy!” called out a young Asugi, running awkwardly towards his father. Nearly tripping over, Asugi reached up to Saizo who picked him up and held him on his lap.  
“You can run that far now? I’ll soon make a ninja out of young man!” he said proudly to his son, overcoming exhaustion to stand and spin Asugi around, much to his young son’s delight.  
“Darling, he’s three years old. Let him have a childhood first, would you?” Mozu interjected, walking in from the garden, her brow glistening with sweat and a naginata in hand. Turning to see her face, Saizo’s expression lit up. 

“I’ve waited all day to see that face again,” he said lovingly. “And I started training when I was four, every Saizo of the family does so.” Mozu rolled her eyes.  
“Sweet words, yet another tool in a ninja’s arsenal eh?” she teased. “And if you must train him from such a young age, at least let me teach him too. You can’t learn everything from ninja training.” Mozu added. Taking a moment to consider, Saizo smiled.  
“That sounds like a fantastic idea! While the other families have their picnics and toys, we can have family training days! Maybe a shuriken throwing competition…” he began, mind abuzz with ideas.  
“No shurikens before he’s six.” Mozu said firmly, pulling Saizo from his self-induced trance. Opening his mouth to interject, he quickly changed his mind after a stern look.  
“Fine, no shurikens before he’s six.” Saizo conceded. “Didn’t say anything about kunai though…” he added in a whisper to himself, grinning mischievously. Ignoring the comment, Mozu placed her naginata on the weapon rack and took Asugi in her arms, lovingly squeezing his cheek and giving him a small sweet. 

 

“What mission did Lord Ryoma send you on anyways?” Mozu asked, looking concerned at the scuffs and grazes that covered her husband.  
“Oh, Lord Ryoma didn’t give me a mission, I’m doing a favour for my brother. Or more specifically, my niece.” Saizo sighed.  
“Midori? What kind of request from her could leave you like that?” Mozu replied.  
“Kaze and Lord Takumi requested it together. Long story short, Lord Takumi’s son is head over heels for Midori and was planning to gather dragon herbs for her despite knowing full well the danger. As thus, they requested that I escort Prince Kiragi to and from the location so he doesn’t get himself killed over a crush.” Saizo explained. Mozu’s reaction was a combination of surprise and concern.

“I knew it! I knew there was something between Midori and Kiragi!” she exclaimed excitedly. Saizo rolled his eyes. Gathering her composure, Mozu continued. “So, um, did you get the herbs?”  
“Sadly not. The area’s dangerous because it’s infested with Nohrians led by Prince Leo himself. Thankfully the prince wasn’t seen, but I had to cover our escape with explosives. Some of my best damn ones too, at that.” Saizo sighed.  
"Let me come too next time!“ Mozu suggested.  
"This is a contingent of royal guards we’re talking about. We’d be better off taking an army if we could spare the people,” he replied.  
“And that, my darling, is why you need to turn your way of thinking about. Even a ninja like you can’t get a child past, you’re wasting too much time keeping him hidden. And an army would attract their attention faster. But when they see a common country girl taking her little brother on a hunting trip, they’ll ignore us completely” Mozu reasoned. Her plan took even Saizo off guard.  
“Hiding in plain sight…” He muttered to himself. “That’s brilliant. I’m coming too, of course. I’ll watch from the shadows in case anything goes wrong.” Saizo added.  
“But who will look after Asugi? We can’t leave him here by himself. Can’t we leave him with your brother?” Mozu protested.  
“We’ll have to. Maybe he can learn how to make sweets from his cousin. That girl’s a prodigy.” Saizo suggested.  
“Sweets! Sweets!” Asugi added excitedly, the magical word bringing his attention to his parents’ discussion. Saizo and Mozu smiled at each other. Staying with Kaze it would be.


	2. The Village

With a yawn, Mozu led Asugi by the hand to the front door of Kaze’s house. A sweet scent filled the air outside the house, and a faint cloud of steam rose from the chimney. Within a couple of seconds of knocking, Kaze opened the door with a smile. He always had his speed to complement Saizo’s strength. “Good morning Mozu, and good morning to you little man!” he greeted with a smile, crouching down for Asugi.   
“Morning U-u-uncle Ka…ze!” Asugi managed, still coming to grips with his speech. Mozu beamed with pride at her young son. Kaze beckoned Asugi in close to whisper to him.   
“Hey, Asugi! Didn’t anyone tell you there was a bonbon hiding behind your ear?” Kaze whispered, producing a bonbon in his hand for the trick. Asugi’s eyes lit up.  
“Bonbon!” he called out happily, popping the sweet into his mouth. With a glance, Mozu thanked Kaze silently.   
“Right then Asugi, Uncle Kaze and Midori will be looking after you today alright? Be a good boy okay?” Mozu said to Asugi, patting him on the head.  
“Yes Ma!” he beamed, still enjoying his bonbon as Midori appeared from around the back of the house.  
“Hi Asugi! Hi Auntie Mozu!” She beamed, giving Mozu a tight hug as her icy blue hair glistened in the dawning sun.   
“Mornin’ Midori! Mozu smiled. “It smells like you’re cooking up another brew! What are you making?”   
“Oh just a little tonic for muscles. It’s perfect for when Dad gets home on missions and stuff,” Midori shrugged. Mozu smiled, remembering how exhausted Saizo was the day before.  
“Wonderful! Are you thinking of setting up a medicine store one day? You’re very talented!” She replied.   
“I’d like to when I’m older,” Midori replied, glancing at Kaze.  
“We agreed that she could start a little stall when she’s 16,” He said somewhat sternly, the topic being a much discussed one.  
“Oh wonderful! You’re fifteen now right?” Mozu asked cheerily, knowing that Midori had spent much more time in a deeprealm than Asugi. While Saizo argued that it was the safest option, Mozu had been firmly against the idea of deeprealms except in situations where they were absolutely necessary. Asugi had only spent around a week in his but it still took a deep toll; the battle for Cheve alone aged him by 3 months. Midori had spent much longer in her deeprealm since Azura had taken Shigure to the mountains to teach him how to use her amulet for emergencies, and Kaze was so busy.   
“Yeah, Dad said I’m old enough to live with everyone now,” Midori replied. Mozu felt a pang of pain for her, knowing that she’d spent much of her life without her parents or brother, but had still worked so diligently on her potions as a way of coping.   
“That’s wonderful!” Mozu replied, her happiness for Midori showing more than she wanted but it manifesting as the cheery optimism Mozu had developed to deal with her loss after losing her village to the Faceless. “Anyways I’ve got to go now, Uncle Saizo’s taking me out for the day!” She added. Kissing Asugi and Midori on the cheek and giving Kaze a quick hug, Mozu waved goodbye and left in the direction of the northern woods. A series faint glints shone from one of the trees, a method that only Kaze could notice or understand. “It was her idea” the message from Saizo read.

 

A hoarse whispering sound that could be mistaken for the wind drew Mozu’s attention upwards as she entered the forest. While difficult to notice in the darkness and the maze of branches, Saizo was hidden amongst the canopy. Nodding once, he waited for Mozu to continue along the track to the meeting point before following above, constantly scanning for threats. After around ten minutes of walking, they reached a clearing and saw the figures of both Takumi and Kiragi. At first glance, the sheer number of arrows lodged around the area would suggest there had been a battle, but on closer inspection each arrow had been fired at targets strewn across the area. “Who’s the man?!” Kiragi shouted as the last arrow hit its mark perfectly. Takumi glanced once at Mozu and Saizo before grinning. Appearing behind Kiragi, Saizo sighed loudly.  
“Prince Kiragi, please don’t give away our position.” He said disapprovingly. Kiragi nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning around while nocking his bow instinctively. “Heh. Good reactions.” Saizo added as Kiragi lowered his bow, to the relief of Mozu who was now running over to the three. She noted that Takumi’s outfit was more streamlined and outfitted with various leaves and vines to blend in with the environment. Even his Fujin Yumi had been wrapped to give the appearance of a traveller’s staff. Kiragi, on the other hand, was outfitted in a traditional hunters’ garb, the likes of which was common for the hunters back in Mozu’s village. He would fit in perfectly with Mozu in her old cloak, the one surviving remnant of her previous life.   
“Gods, you frightened the life out of me!” Kiragi exclaimed.  
“That’s because you were too busy showing off your marksmanship and not honing your hunting skills. If you’d been focusing, you might have sensed Saizo’s presence, but you would have at least sensed Mozu,” Takumi lectured sternly. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way Mozu, it’s just you’ve not had ninja training, and Saizo has, and… I’ll stop now…” He added hastily, not wanting to offend. Mozu chuckled.   
“It’s alright Ta-I mean, Lord Takumi,” She replied, nearly forgetting her manners. Takumi smiled.  
“Don’t worry, you don’t have to say ‘lord’ all the time. I’m not one for tradition or status anyways, especially when you’ve been kind enough to help my son,” he said casually. Saizo was taken aback slightly.  
“You honour us, Lord Takumi,” Saizo said politely, his etiquette flawless. Takumi sighed.  
“That applies to you too Saizo,” he added.   
“Hey, hey! You can call me Lord Kiragi if you want!” Kiragi interjected.   
“No, you’re not getting any honorifics because you’re posing as a peasant boy hunting with his sister,” Takumi said. “We’ve already been through this.   
“Fiiiine…” Kiragi sighed with a pout.   
“Remember to stick close to me okay? And I’ll probably be the one talking most, I have a feeling I’d sound more authentic,” Mozu joked. Kiragi raised an eyebrow.  
“Hey, what does that mean?” He asked.   
“She means you don’t sound like a commoner, because you are in fact a prince,” Saizo answered flatly, almost openly incredulous that it was not obvious in the first place.  
“Oh, right. That makes sense,” Kiragi said cheerily.   
“Anyways, let’s get going. Saizo and I will be trailing you both to make sure the whole process goes smoothly. The worst case scenario is directly encountering Leo himself. He knows your mother and I from skirmishes and he’ll be able to see the resemblance in you. If you encounter him, keep your head down and let Mozu do the talking. She’s the only one of us who hasn’t directly faced him. If a fight breaks out, Saizo will launch a small flare. Head to that flare, I’ll cover you. I assume you’re familiar with the location of the herbs? “Takumi said, patting his disguised weapon at the end of his explanation.   
“Yessir!” Kiragi said. “It’s near the top of that big hill up there,” He added, pointing to a mountain could give Mount Garou a run for its money.  
“…That one?!” Mozu exclaimed. Kiragi looked confused.  
“Yeah. If you’d rather wait by the base after we get past the Nohrians then that’s fine,” he added. Mozu shook her head.  
“No, it’s fine.” She replied. Takumi reached down and uncovered a sturdy steel naginata, picking it up and handing it to her.  
“Here, you’ll need this if a fight breaks out,” he said. Mozu’s eyes lit up at the sight of it.   
“Wow, this looks expensive!” She exclaimed. Saizo raised an eyebrow, and silently thanked Takumi with a glance and a nod.  
“Think of it as a reward from the royal family,” Takumi smiled.   
“T-thank you Takumi!” Mozu beamed. As she inspected her new weapon, Kiragi interjected.  
“Hold on, if we’re posing as commoners, wouldn’t an expensive weapon like that give us away?” He reasoned. Saizo nodded.   
“Well observed young prince.” He commented.   
“Oh don’t worry, the blade won’t be visible anyways,” Mozu replied, taking out a large piece of rough-hewn cloth from a pouch and tying it around the blade of the naginata. Taking a handful of dirt, she made the shaft of the weapon look dirty from farm use. “It’s painful to treat it like this, but at least it’ll be authentic. Besides, a little dirt never hurt anyone!” She added. Suitably disguised, the group nodded to each other and took up their positions. Mozu and Kiragi took to the path with Saizo following in the trees and Takumi in the brush, carefully scanning for Nohrians. At the sight of a patrol, Saizo would make his wind whistling sound to signal a stop, where Mozu would pretend to observe herbs on the side of the path or correct Kiragi’s hunting cloak. The operation went smoothly for a time until a pair of mercenaries came walking up the path. As usual, Mozu and Kiragi stopped on the signal to forage around, however the mercenaries didn’t ignore them as the other Nohrians did.  
“You there! What are you doing?” One of them demanded, a cocky glint in his eye.   
“We’re on our way to get some herbs for our mother,” Mozu said calmly.   
“’Our’ mother eh? You two look nothing alike!” The second one said suspiciously. This time it was not Mozu who spoke, but Kiragi.  
“My mother is dad’s second wife, her mother was killed by bandits,” he said firmly. The second mercenary was taken aback.   
You’re got a bit of an attitude little kid,” He snarled. Feeling panic settle in, Mozu had to do her best to remain composed and in character. Her fears were eased when she glimpsed Saizo approaching from behind the two.   
“My apologies, he’s not learnt his manners yet,” she said, bowing. Looking through the gap between the men, she saw Saizo nod. With a sweep of her naginata, Mozu knocked both men off their feet. Saizo took the opportunity to jump in and prick them both with the tips of his shurikens on the inside of their elbows. The sleeping agent on the weapons acted quickly, and the mercenaries were asleep within seconds. Mozu had insisted on non-lethal methods, so Saizo had coated his shurikens with an agent that not only knocked out its victims, but caused a memory loss of the minutes beforehand. The marks from the shurikens were small enough to heal before the mercenaries woke up, so for all they knew they had fallen asleep on the job.  
“Impressive,” Saizo commented to Mozu as she hefted her naginata back onto her shoulder once the sleeping mercenaries had been hidden.  
“This one’s a bit heavier than the old one but that means it’s got more heft to it, those guys fell down easily,” she smiled before setting off again as Saizo disappeared back into the trees. When Mozu and Kiragi reached the small village of Ashtown, the group waited in order to find good lookout points for Saizo and Takumi. Saizo chose to run along the rooftops, and Takumi took up a good position in an abandoned watchtower on the outskirts of the village. The group passed through with little troubles, only a small boy running up to Kiragi and spending a while saying how cool he was, much to Kiragi’s delight and the rest of the group’s frustration. However, the lack of trouble from the villagers was more than made up for by the patrol the group met on the other side.   
“You there! You’re not from around here. State your business. Now.” Came a commanding voice. Sitting atop an imposing armoured black stallion was none other than Prince Leo of Nohr, flanked by two paladins, their impeccable lances glinting in the midday sun. Mozu froze.  
“You talkin’ to us?” Kiragi asked, managing to get his country accent perfect, but his etiquette utterly wrong. One of the paladins rode forward.   
“Arrogant whelp! You dare address Prince Leo in such a manner?!” he demanded. Mozu immediately pulled Kiragi down into a kneeling position.  
“My apologies m’lord, my little brother here hasn’t learned to control his tongue yet. We’re on our way to forage for herbs for our mother.” She said humbly, glaring daggers at Kiragi when he glanced over at her. Leo smirked.  
“Humph. With that bow and arrogance he reminds me of somebody else I know, someone I won’t soon forget,” Leo muttered. “There’s something off about you too, girl. You seem familiar.”  
“M-me, m-m’lord?” Mozu replied, trying to disguise her nerves with timidness. “I’m pretty plain, I expect there’s plenty of country girls I could be mistaken for…” she added, looking down.   
“I’m not talking about your looks, I’m talking about your aura. The run-of-the-mill village girl doesn’t have such a… fiery aura to her. I’ve noticed that aura before in a battle with some Hoshidans. Where do you come from?” Leo elaborated. The pressure was building further on Mozu’s nerves.   
“W-well, I don’t know much about auras m’lord, but there was a big bout of fighting not too far from the spot where I was hunting the other week. I speared a boar right between the eyes,” She lied.   
“Oh really? That naginata sure does have an exquisite woodwork beneath the wear and tear. Much too expensive for someone like you surely. Did you scavenge it from the battle site perhaps? Let’s see the blade.” Leo kept pushing. It seemed nothing would stop his suspicions. Mozu began to tug at the makeshift cover for the blade of her naginata, and then the paladins drew their blades.

 

An almighty explosion sent shockwaves through everyone in the vicinity as the base of a watchtower beside Leo was detonated. His horse reared up, forcing Kiragi and Mozu to flee back from the scene unfolding. As one paladin began to raise his arm to point in the direction of Saizo, he was knocked clean from his horse by a shining arrow. It was from the Fujin Yumi. Disorientated, Leo managed to hold the tower up with a growth of branches from his Brynhildr tome, but doing so took his concentration off Mozu and Kiragi, allowing them to slip off into the back streets of the village and escape, Saizo following them above from the rooftops.   
Regrouping outside the village, Takumi took up a position facing their escape route while Saizo checked everyone’s welfare. “Whose idea was the explosives?!” Asked Kiragi, still in shock. Mozu sighed and pointed at Saizo.  
“He’s got this childlike obsession with explosives, and it’s downright dangerous,” Mozu explained.  
“Oh right. They were so cool!” Kiragi exclaimed. “Also, why didn’t we take out that scary guy with the magic? He was a prince or something right?” he added. Mozu opened her mouth to speak, but it was Takumi that answered.  
“Because if a Nohrian prince was slain in that village, what do you expect would have happened to it? They would have razed the whole place.” He explained.  
“But grandmother…” Kiragi started. He was silenced when Takumi glared at him, fury in his eyes.  
“Kiragi. Don’t mention your grandmother. Not until this war is done and I can finally grieve.” He said, his voice level but laced with anger and despair. It didn’t take any further warnings.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fic for AO3 and I'm sorry if it's awful! This is a short introduction to the story and I'm not sure how many chapters this will be but I'm hoping to upload as regularly as my exams will allow. I hope you enjoyed, please feel free to leave your opinions and suggestions below!


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